Door stop



K. D. COOK March 6, 1962 DOOR STOP Filed June 8, 1959 FIG.

INVENTOR.

KENNETH D. COOK ATTORNEY 3,024,056 DOOR STGP Kenneth D. Coolr, Santa Ana, Calif. (8862 Lexington, Gallitin Road, Apt. '7, Downey, Calif.) Filed .liune 3, 1959, Ser. No. 818,71W 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-177) This invention relates generally to a door stop and more particularly to a door stop which engages the floor immediately beneath the door.

More specifically this invention relates to a door stop which may be moved into locking position and released easily.

The problem of holding doors in a desired position has been present for a long time and therefore many devices have been proposed prior to this time for accomplishing such purpose. However, many of the prior doorstops have had the disadvantage that the structures which were suggested were so large and so bulky that they had to be mounted externally of the door itself which was distasteful to the eye of the persons passing through the door. Door stops also have been suggested which provide that the major portion of the structure be mounted within the door; however, these structures have had the disadvantage that the operator must bend over and move the door stop into holding position or release position with his hands. This inconvenience has reduced the commercial acceptance of such door stops.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved door stop which is economical to install and easy to operate.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a door stop which may be mounted within the door and may be released when desired Without the necessity of the operator touching the door stop.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a door stop which is particularly useful in conjunction With doors having means on them to continuously urge the door shut because the present door stop may be released from its holding position simply by moving the door in the direction opposite the force of the above 3-3 showing the details of the manner in which the actuating arm is mounted onto the stopper shaft.

Referring now to FIG. 1 it is seen that a door 11 has a bore 12 extending upwardly within it from the bottom of the door and an elongated aperture 13 extends from the bore 12 to face 14 of the door. the bore 12 is a frame member 15 which frictionally engages the sides of the bore 12. Since bore 12 may be most easily produced by means of a drill, the frame member 15 has a generally cylindrical shape in this particular embodiment. Intermediate crossmember 16 having an aperture 17 through it is fixedly mounted within the frame member 15. Located at the lower edge of frame member 15, and forming part of the door stop frame, is bottom plate 18 which is attached to the door by some suitable means such as screws as shown. The plate 18 is provided with a recess 19 and has bore 20 extending through it at the center of recess 19; one side of the bore 20 is chamfered at portion 21 as shown.

, A stopper member is mounted within the frame member 15 for vertical movement. In this embodiment the stopper member takes the form of vertical shaft 23 having Located within inc base 24 mounted at its lower end. Means is provided for engaging the floor when the stopper member 23 is moved to a downward position. In this embodiment, the means takes the form of vertical shaft 23 having base 24- mounted at its lower end. Means is provided for engaging the floor when the stopper member 23 is moved to a downward position. In this embodiment, the means takes the form of resilient friction member 25 mounted on the lower side of base 24. The friction member is made of rubber or some other suitable material which is both resilient to conform with any irregularities in the floor and as a high coetficient of friction to provide greater holding qualities. In order to hold the friction member 25 against the floor, shaft 23 is provided with a series of recesses formed by teeth 26 which may be moved into engagement with the bottom plate 18 at portion 27 as will be described in more detail below.

Since each of the teeth 26 must be spaced apart a certain distance in order to allow portion 27 to be moved into engagement with the teeth, friction member 25 is provided with a series of downwardly extending projections 25a so that it may be compressed sufficiently to allow the shaft 23 to be moved downwardly a distance equal to the distance between the teeth after the projections 2.5a on the member 25 first engage the floor, if necessary. With the structure described so far, it can be seen that the shaft 23 not only is able to be moved in the vertical direction, but it may be moved in the horizontal direction with respect to the frame member 15 between a held position where the portion 27 engages one of the teeth 26 and prevents upward movement of the shaft 23, and a released position (as in FIG. 1) where the shaft 23 may be returned to its upward position by means described below.

If the present invention is used on a door having means mounted thereon to continuously urge the door in a certain direction such as spring loaded hinges which tend to force the door shut, the door stop should be mounted with the teeth 26 extending in the direction opposite the force of the above means. Thereby the force of that means will maintain the shaft 23 in the held position. If there isnt such a means on the door in which the present invention is mounted, the friction between the portion 27 and the horizontal engaging surface of the particular tooth 26 engaging it will hold the shaft in the held position. Sometimes it is desired to increase this friction force by, for example, knurling the engaging surface of the tooth 26 or the portion 27. Alternatively, the engaging surface of each of the teeth may extend from the base of each tooth upwardly at a small angle, e.g., 5, as well as outwardly, while the portion 27 is formed with a cooperating shape. With this structure it takes a greater force to move the door so as to cause the shaft 23 to be moved to the released position. Actuator lever 29 is mounted onto shaft 23 in order to provide means to receive a force to move the shaft 23 downwardly into floor engaging position. As can be seen lever 29 extends from the portion at which it is mounted onto the shaft 23 through slot 31 in the frame member 15 and the elongated aperture 13 before extending through slot 32 in kick plate 33. A foot receiving portion 34 is provided at the outside end of the lever 29 and is knurled in order to facilitate operation of the device. Means are provided engaging the frame member 15 for resiliently urging the shaft 23 upwardly. In this modification this means takes the form of a spring 35 which encircles shaft 23 and engages the bottom of actuator lever 29.

The manner in which actuating lever 29 is mounted onto shaft 23 can best be seen in FIG. 3. Shaft 23 has been relieved to provide recesses 36, 3'7 and 38 which have a width equal to the thickness of actuator lever 29 at its mounting portion. Actuator lever 29 has been forked to form spring portions 39 and 40 respectively. Each of these spring portions are provided with a curved surface and a holding projection such as 41 and 42 respectively on spring portion 38.

In operation, after the door has been moved to the position at which it is wished to be held, the operator merely pushes down with his foot on portion 34 which moves the member 23 into floor engaging position, and then pulls the door towards him. Since member 25 is held by the floor, this last mentioned action will cause the shaft 23 to be moved in a horizontal direction from the release position to the held position with respect to the door, whereby one of the teeth 26 engages portion 27 when the downward force of the foot is removed and the resiliency of member 25 and spring 35 urge the shaft 23 upwardly again. At this time, the shaft 23 will remain in the held position no matter how much force is applied to the door in a direction toward the operator.. Therefore, the present invention is particularly useful on doors which have means mounted thereon to continuously urge the door shut, e.g., a spring hinge. The present invention is also useful on doors without such means since the friction between the particular tooth 26 and portion 27 will prevent the shaft 23 from beingmoved to the released position if some small force tends to move the door in a direction away from the side of the door on which the operator stands. When it is desired to move or shut the door, the operator merely pushes the door away from him with a. force which is greater than the frictional force between the tooth 26 and portion 27- This will cause the door to move relative to the shaft 23 since the friction member 25 will not slide on the floor whereby the shaft 23 is moved to the release position where the particular tooth 26 does not engage portion 27" and the spring 35 will return the door stop to its upward. position.

An important feature of the present invention is the economical manner in which the present door stop may be installed into the door. The carpenter merely produces bore 12 with some means such as brace and bit and forms the elongated aperture 13 in the door. The cylindrical frame member is then mounted within the bore 12 and oriented so that the slot 31 is aligned with the aperture 13. Then shaft 23 is extended through the bore: of bottom plate 28 and the spring 35, and this three-- member assembly is located in the door with the upper portion of shaft 23 extending through the bore 17. At this time with the shaft 23 in the upwardmost position the carpenter extends a screw driver or similar tool through the aperture 13 and slot 31 and compresses spring 35 sufiiciently so that recesses 36, 37 and 38 are exposed. Actuator lever 29 is then extended through aperture 13 and slot 31, which are wide enough to allow passage of the forked portion of lever 29, and mounted in the recesses 36, 37, and 38 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Then the spring is released and the shaft 23 will be resiliently held in this upper position. Kick plate 33 is then mounted to the door by turning it sideways in order that slot 32 may be fitted over foot receiving portion 34 before the kick plate is moved into its vertical position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. At this time, the kick plate is attached to the face 14. of the door by means such as screws.

Although only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention which should only be limited to the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A doorstop for a door swingably mounted above a floor comprising: a frame member; a stopper member slidably mounted for movement in a vertical direction within said frame member; said stopper member being movable relativeto said frame member laterally between i a held and a released position; means on said stopper and frame members cooperating to prevent upward movement of said stopper member when said stopper member is in the held position; means at the bottom of said stopper member for engaging the floor beneath the stopper member; means engaging said frame member for resiliently urging said stopper member upwardly; and means cooperating with said stopper member for receiving a force to move the stopper member downwardly.

2. An automatic doorstop comprising: a frame member; a vertically extending stopper shaft slidablymounted within said frame member, said shaft being movable relative to said frame member laterally between a first and a second position when subjected to a lateral force on the lower end of said shaft; means engaging said frame member for resiliently urging said shaft upwardly; means on said frame member for engaging said shaft and preventing it from moving upwardly when said shaft is moved to said first position; means mounted on said shaft for translnitting a downward force to said shaft; and means located on the lower end of said shaft for engaging the floor when said shaft is moved to a downwardly position.

3. In combination with a door, a frame member mounted within the door; a vertically extending stopper tshaft disposed within the frame member for vertical and lateral movement, said shaft having a series of spaced teeth extending along it; said frame member having a tooth engaging surface juxtarelated to said teeth, the teeth bearing part of said shaft being movable within said frame laterally in a direction normal to the plane of the door, said direction being toward said surface; means engaging said frame member for resiliently urging said shaft upwardly; a friction member mounted at the lower end of said shaft; and an actuator lever mounted to said shaft :and extending to a position external of said door.

4. A door stop comprising: a frame member; a vertical stopper shaft having a generally vertical axis, said stopper shaft being slidably mounted within said frame member for movement generally parallel to said axis; :said shaft having a series of spaced recesses formed therein; means engaging said frame member for resiliently urging said shaft upwardly; said frame member having .a portion juxtarelated to said recesses; said shaft being movable laterally so as to move said axis horizontally in L3, direction toward said portion whereby said portion may enter one of said recesses; a foot pedal mounted to said shaft and extending out of said frame member for receiving a force to move said shaft downwardly, said pedal being on the side of the shaft opposite said re- .cesses; and a resilient friction member mounted at the bottom of said shaft.

5. In combination with a door swingably mounted over a floor, a door stop comprising: a frame; a stopper member having a vertical axis mounted to said frame within the door for vertical motion generally parallel to the stopper members vertical axis, said stopper member being disposed for movement at substantially a right angle to said axis so as to allow the stopper member axis to be moved laterally in a horizontal direction relative to the frame between a held and a released position; means on said frame and stopper member cooperating to prevent said stopper member from moving upwardly when said member is in the held position; means mounted on the bottom of said stopper member for engaging the floor beneath the door; said stopper member having at least one recess located thereon of predetermined width; an actuator lever having a forked portion with a spring portion thereon of a thickness equal to the width of said recess, said spring portion extending at least partially around said stopper member and being located within said recess and having a projection engaging said stopper member so as to prevent the removal of said lever from said stopper member, whereby said actuator lever may be attached for operation by simply forcing said spring portion around said stopper member and positioning said projection in said recess, said actuator lever extending to a position external of the door; and means engaging said frame and said lever for resiliently urging said stopper member upwardly relative to said frame.

6. A door stop for a door swingably mounted above 5 a floor comprising: a frame member; a stopper member, said stopper member being operably associated with said frame member for movement in vertical and lateral directions;

means on said stopper and frame members co-operat- 10 ing to prevent upward movement of said stopper member when said stopper member is in a held position, the portion of said stopper member at which at least part of said means is located being movable in a lateral direction between a released position and 15 a held position;

means at the bottom of said stopper member for engaging the fioor beneath;

means engaging said frame member for resiliently unging said stopper member upwardly; and

means co-operating with said stopper member for receiving a force to move the stopper member downwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 168,151 Grauel Sept. 28, 1875 670,854 Diebel Mar. 26, 1901 1,048,060 Foss Dec. 24, 1912 1,185,644 Farrington June 6, 1916 

